Laundry dryer with gasket-supporting collar

Abstract

A circular sealing gasket can be interposed between a rear rim of a laundry dryer drum tubular body and a rear wall of the dryer casing. The laundry dryer may also comprise a substantially circular, basin-shaped lid or cover fixed to the rear wall, substantially coaxial to the tubular body, so as to form a cavity on the rear wall that communicates with a hot-air generator. A circular gasket-supporting collar may have a nominal diameter greater than that of the tubular body rear rim. The collar may be fixed to the periphery of the basin-shaped lid or cover and/or to the rear wall, coaxial to the tubular body. The circular sealing gasket can be force fitted into the gasket-supporting collar so as to come in abutment against a periphery of the basin-shaped lid or cover around the perimeter thereof.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A rotary-drum laundry dryer comprising:
 an outer casing having a front wall, a rear wall, side walls and a top wall; 
 a drum structured for housing laundry to be dried and fixed in an axially rotatable manner inside the casing, the drum comprising a substantially cylindrical, tubular body having a front rim coupled in an axially rotatable manner to a front bulkhead and a rear rim coupled in axially rotatable manner to the rear wall; 
 a hot-air generator structured to circulate a stream of hot air through the drum; 
 a first circular sealing gasket interposed between the front rim and the front bulkhead; 
 a second circular sealing gasket interposed between the rear rim and the rear wall; 
 a substantially circular, basin-shaped lid or cover fixed to the rear wall, substantially coaxial to the tubular body, so as to form on the rear wall a cavity in communication with the hot-air generator; and 
 a circular gasket-supporting collar having a nominal diameter greater than that of the rear rim and fixed, coaxial to the tubular body, to at least one of the rear wall and a periphery of the lid or cover, wherein
 the second circular sealing gasket is force fitted into the gasket-supporting collar so as to come in abutment against the periphery of the lid or cover around the perimeter thereof. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein
 the rear wall includes a substantially sink-shaped bulge or recess which projects outwards on the casing, is located inside the perimeter of the second sealing gasket, and is in communication with the hot-air generator, and 
 the lid or cover is fixed to the rear wall substantially coaxial to the tubular body, so as to close the bulge or recess. 
 
     
     
       3. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein the lid or cover is firmly fixed to the rear wall in substantially airtight manner. 
     
     
       4. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 3 , wherein an annular sealing gasket is interposed between the lid or cover and the rear wall. 
     
     
       5. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the lid or cover is permeable to air so as to permit hot air to flow into and out of the drum. 
     
     
       6. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the lid or cover is perforated. 
     
     
       7. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 5 , wherein
 a sink-shaped bulge or recess on the rear wall is substantially circular in shape and is substantially coaxial to the tubular body, and 
 the lid or cover is fixed to the rear wall with its concavity facing the bottom of the bulge or recess, so as to form, on the rear wall, a substantially lenticular-shaped cavity. 
 
     
     
       8. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 6 , wherein a central section of a bottom of the lid or cover includes a substantially cup-shaped contra-oriented bulge or recess which projects towards a bottom of the bulge or recess on the rear wall. 
     
     
       9. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein the periphery of the lid or cover is fixed to the rear wall by at least one of seam-folding, clinching, riveting, spot-welding and a fixing technique similar to seam-folding, clinching, riveting or spot-welding. 
     
     
       10. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein the circular gasket-supporting collar is fixed to at least one of the rear wall and the periphery of the basin-shaped lid or cover by at least one of seam-folding, clinching, riveting, spot-welding and a fixing technique similar to seam-folding, clinching, riveting or spot-welding. 
     
     
       11. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein the circular gasket-supporting collar is realized in one piece with the lid or cover. 
     
     
       12. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein the second circular sealing gasket consists of a monolithic, toroidal-shaped ring made of rubber or other elastomeric polymer suitable to be force fitted into the circular gasket-supporting collar. 
     
     
       13. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 12 , wherein the toroidal-shaped ring has a hollow structure. 
     
     
       14. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the circular gasket-supporting collar and the lid or cover is made of metal material. 
     
     
       15. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein the tubular body rests substantially horizontally inside the casing on substantially horizontally-oriented supporting rollers located close to both axial ends of the tubular body and fixed to the casing in a free revolving manner so as to allow the tubular body to freely rotate inside the casing about its horizontally-oriented longitudinal axis. 
     
     
       16. The rotary-drum laundry dryer of  claim 1 , wherein
 the outer casing comprises a lower supporting base or socle structured for resting on the floor and housing heat exchanging means adapted to dehydrate moisture laden air exiting the drum, 
 the outer casing also comprises an upper cabinet structured for resting on the base or socle, 
 the drum is fixed in axially rotatable manner inside the upper cabinet, 
 the rear wall is a rear wall of the upper cabinet, and 
 horizontally-oriented supporting rollers are fixed in free revolving manner directly to the base or socle.